March 8, 2019

House passes marijuana legalization, sends to Senate

ByRobert Nott, Santa Fe New Mexican | March 8, 2019

After a three-hour debate Thursday night, the state House of Representatives by a narrow margin — 36-34 — approved a measure that would legalize recreational use of marijuana in New Mexico.

Any resident 21 years or older would be allowed to buy, possess and use cannabis under the proposal, which also would create a state oversight commission.

House Bill 356 next heads to the Senate for consideration. If the Senate approves it, it would go to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who has said she favors legalizing recreational marijuana if the proper safeguards are put in place.

If such a proposal became law, New Mexico would become the 11th state to decriminalize marijuana, which remains illegal under federal law.

Still, the bill’s fate in the Senate, where Republicans and several conservative Democrats repeatedly have voted against past legalization efforts, remains unclear. A Senate initiative introduced by three Republicans, Senate Bill 577, has similarities to the House bill, which gives some hope to backers that a legalization bill could clear the Legislature’s upper chamber.

Thursday’s vote only came after one of the bill’s sponsors, Rep. Javier Martinez, D-Albuquerque, introduced a substitute bill that considerably altered language in the original legislation.

Among compromise measures: Instead of allowing residents to possess up to two ounces of marijuana, they could only possess half as much. And while the original bill would have allowed New Mexicans to grow cannabis on their private property, that provision was struck because of fear of starting a “black market,” Martinez said.

And, under the substitute, anyone who bought recreational marijuana from a licensed store must be able to produce the receipt or risk criminal charges.

House Democrats in support of the bill framed it as a crime-prevention measure, saying it would help put illegal dealers and criminal cartels out of business.

As one of the bill’s sponsors, Rep. Antonio “Moe” Maestas, D-Albuquerque, put it, “Prohibition does not work.”

Republicans voicing opposition to the measure emphasized the potential for more vehicular accidents involving drivers testing positive for marijuana, especially in a state which already has a high rate of drunken-driving crashes, many involving fatalities.

A February 2019 report by the University of Minnesota that studied the impact of marijuana in the two states that first decriminalized it in 2012 — Colorado and Washington — found that officials in both states were dealing with growing problems regarding driving-under-the-influence cases and usage by under-age residents.

And last October a report by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the Highway Loss Data Institute found a six percent increase in vehicular crashes in four states that have legalized marijuana: Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Nevada.

Legalization would come with a four percent excise tax, money that could raise tens of millions of dollars for the state, Martinez said. That money would be used for several purposes, including for research and to help law enforcement detect and combat DUIs caused by marijuana use.

The original bill called for a nine percent excise tax. Both the original and substitute bill would give counties and municipalities the right to impose additional local taxes.

The bill makes a provision for employers to create a zero-tolerance policy regarding cannabis use in the workplace.

“Cannabis legalization is inevitable,” Maestas said.

Currently, about 67,500 New Mexicans have legal access to marijuana and cannabis products for medical use, according to the New Mexico Department of Health. These are patients diagnosed by a physician with a number of specified ailments and diseases, including cancer, HIV/AIDS and chronic pain, who benefit from a state law approved in 2007 by both the Legislature and then-Gov. Bill Richardson.

The third time was not the charm. For the third time in just over a month, Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver rejected a Republican petition for a referendum to overturn the law that would require background checks for nearly all gun purchases.

New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas and all fourteen of the state's district attorneys are asking Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to veto a bill that would change laws governing probation and parole for criminal offenders. The prosecutors said in a letter Friday to the governor that the measure approved by the Legislature would jeopardize public safety.

Very different visions for legalizing cannabis in New Mexico are a bit closer to becoming reality after legislative hearings on Saturday. A bill that would legalize recreational cannabis for adults over 21 and task the state with licensing retailers to sell the product is headed to a vote of the full House of Representatives after winning the approval of a key committee.

The chairman of an influential Senate committee proposes to strip out big pieces of a sprawling tax bill, scrapping a proposed increase in New Mexico's personal income tax rates and scaling back a suggested increase in a credit for families. For backers of House Bill 6, the measure is key to making the tax system more progressive and shoring up the state's finances before the oil industry takes another dive and New Mexico's government is left strapped for cash again.

When it comes to legalizing cannabis for recreational use, those responsible for running state government have a warning for lawmakers: Not so fast. The proposed legislation calls for the state to begin licensing retailers as soon as January 2020.

Holtec International was in the news last month when the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission denied requests from some groups to hold an additional hearing over the company’s license to build an interim storage site in southeastern New Mexico to hold nuclear waste from commercial power plants.